Women's football in Israel

Women's football in Israel
FIFA Women's World Cup 2019 Qualifying Round Austria vs. Israel November 23, 2017 BSFZ-Arena Maria Enzersdorf
CountryIsrael
Governing bodyIsrael Football Association
National team(s)Women's national team
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

Women's football in Israel is gaining popularity but female players often play abroad to improve their skills.[1]

Some of the barriers that prevent the sport from growing include prejudice against women for playing soccer.[2][3] Other main causes are lack of budgets, sponsors and proper budget management. As in any competitive sports field, lack of transparency is always a big barrier on its own and creates a hidden competition among the athletes.

Israeli women's football suffers from years of neglect from the authorities and was always the last in terms of priority. The main effort to improve and establish a future for this sport was in the hand of the managers and private people that usually were struggling alone to collect budget to create youth teams in the different clubs in order to create a future generation.

The Israel Football Association (IFA) is the governing body of football in the State of Israel. All professional football clubs must be members, and hundreds of semi-professional and amateur clubs also belong.[4][5]

In 2019, the state announced that it would grant women's soccer the same funding it grants men.[6]

  1. ^ "Where no woman has gone before". Haaretz. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  2. ^ "The beautiful game of soccer, but not for Israeli girls". Haaretz. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  3. ^ "Yael Averbuch: The Face of Jewish Women's Soccer". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  4. ^ "When Saturday Comes - Israel". Wsc.co.uk. 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  5. ^ "When Saturday Comes - Anti-Arab league". Wsc.co.uk. 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  6. ^ Israel pledges equal budgets for men and women's soccer teams